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Angus | ||
Convenience
Many cattle producers today consider regular calf puplling, dehornng, culling cancer eye cows, and milking out cows with sunburned udders to be just part of raising cattle.
In fact, there is no reason cattlemen should do any of this. Not if they put the convenient Angus traits to work for them.
Calving Ease
There are some Angus bulls that should not be used on first calf heifers. but for the most part you can say goodbye to routine calving problems with Angus cattle.
Angus bulls used on mature cows have virtually now calving problems, regardless of their calving wieght EPDS. A few years ago Montana State University conducted calving ease trials with ngus and Longhorn bulls. They foulnd litle difference between average bulls of he two breeds, even on first calf heifers. Today, however, you don't have to guess. You can buy Angus with low birth weight EPDs which you can use with confidence.
Angus cows are also know for their baility to calve easily and unassisted. Over the years research done at various research stations shows that Angus cows will calve on their own and wean a high percentage calf crop, time after time.
No Dehorning
Cattlemem who use horned breeds know there is no sure way to dehor every baby calf. Regardless of the system used, many don't take, and those calves must be dehorned at weaning time. No matter how you dehorn an eight to ten month old calf it is usualy a mess, and it sets the animal back. It's a job everyone hates.
The easy way to dehorn calves is with an Angus bull. vertually every calf sired by an Angus bull will be polled. There is no catching young galves to put caustic paste on horn buttons while you dodge their irritated mother, and no sawing off or gouging out the horns you missed come weaning time.
No Cancer Eye
There has never been a case of cancer eye confirmed in a straightbred Angus animals. It is as simle as that. A cattlemam who runs a light-skinned breed, or one with white skind around the eyes, can loose up to 10% of his mature cows each year from cancer eye. A breeder can begin to cut losses by using Angus bulls. Nearly every calf sired by an Angus bulls has dark skin even though the hair grouwing out of it may be white. This dark skin helps preven cancer eye in the first cross and virtually eliminates it in subsequenst Angus crosses.
No Sunburned Udders
Though not a problem in many parts of the country, anyone who has had to milk out of a cow with a painfully swollen sunburned udder, who hasn't let her calf nurse for two days ro so, can appreciate Angus cows. There are no sunburned (snowburned) udder problems with black Angus cows. Those late spring snows in high mountain country hold no fears for Angus cattle producers, and produce no impromptu wild cow milking contests.
Last updated February 13, 2006.
Cows